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It's an age-old rock and hard place for law enforcement – the degree to which police should rely on criminal informants in order to secure arrests and convictions. While no one disputes the value of intelligence gleaned from criminals, it can be an embarrassment of epic proportions when the criminal informant gives authorities bogus information.
In Cleveland, Ohio, one man just got out of jail after being a victim of bogus information police received from a snitch. According to a recent article by Thomas J. Sheeran of the Associated Press, Wes Ballard is trying to put his life back together after serving ten months in jail. The informant was handled by a federal agent and is now facing multiple investigations himself. As is usually the case with the use of informants gone bad, the Cleveland case revolves around narcotics.
Ballard and 25 other people were arrested in a drug sting in the city of Mansfield, about halfway between Cleveland and Columbus. A large portion of the individuals arrested were convicted. But now prosecutors are asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges, including conspiracy and cocaine trafficking, against most of the defendants – even some who pleaded guilty at trial.
The arrests came after authorities got information based on tips from Jerrell Bray, a small-time operator who was supervised by Drug Enforcement Administration. The 34-year-old Bray, who became a federal informant in 2005, has admitted telling countless lies to polish his informant credentials and keep suspects flowing through the court system.
He's serving 15 years for perjury and civil rights violations against the individuals that he lied to police about. Ballard said Bray's allegations against him came out of thin air. He said he once saw Bray at an auto show but never met him personally. But after spending nearly a year in jail awaiting trial, Ballard was acquitted last year by a jury skeptical of the quality of Bray's testimony.
For one thing, Bray's description of Ballard's height was wrong by close to a foot. Another individual caught up in the informant's web of misinformation was Geneva France. She was convicted of being a drug courier and spent 16 months in prison before her case was dismissed. By the time the 25-year-old was freed, her three-year-old daughter no longer recognized her, and she'd been evicted from her home.
The Justice Department and the DEA are investigating Bray's DEA handler, and a grand jury being directed by a prosecutor is reviewing his cases. The DEA won't comment on Bray or his handler. However, Michael Sanders, a DEA spokesman in Washington, did say, "We have a very good record with confidential sources, but every once in a while you will get a bad one out there." Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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